Meet the Mount Family
‘‘Bonnie and Keith respectfully ask members of Congress to increase support for older foster and adopted children to help them successfully transition into adulthood: longer access to Medicaid, tuition assistance, housing assistance, and job training. As well, they call for protections and initiatives for LGBTQ families to adopt. They also see a need for more awareness about LGBTQ children in the foster care system and more support for families to adopt these youth. Strong advocates for permanent homes for all children, the Mounts encourage every capable adult to consider adopting foster children.’’
We knew that we were his family.
As a nurse who works with people who have persistent mental illness, Bonnie was introduced to foster care through her employment. At that time she and husband Keith had two sons, one entering grade school and the other starting high school. They decided to give foster parenting a try.
The couple fostered for over two years. Their last foster child was a baby girl whom they had for a year and hoped to adopt. After she was reunified with her birth family, the disappointed Mounts decided to take a break. Bonnie recalls, “We were not even sure we’d foster again or attempt to adopt, but if we did we were pretty sure we wanted only baby girls.”
Decisions can change in the beat of a heart. When Keith and Bonnie volunteered at a party for teenagers awaiting adoption, they met the boy who would become their oldest, but newest, son. Bonnie explains “We had gone just to help out in response to an email request from our state agency. When we met John, 6 feet tall and 17 years old, we knew that we were his family.” The couple later learned that John had decided at the last minute to attend the event because, as he told his caseworker, he didn’t want to “age out” of foster care with no place to call home.
John was 15 years old when he entered foster care, and he lived in a group home the entire time until he came to the Mounts. His new family appreciates John’s quiet demeanor, sharp sense of humor, and helpfulness with household chores. In his free time, John likes to play video games, listen to music, and keep up with current culture. He also volunteers at a senior center. John is on track to graduate high school this year and hopes to attend UNM next fall.
This month brings cause for celebration in the Mount household. Four days before his 18th birthday, John will attend his adoption finalization in court, accompanied by his new parents; his new younger brothers, Daniel, age 16, and Abraham, age 7; and two foster sisters, ages 4 months and 13 years.
The Mounts found encouragement and support for adoption through the local community, through reading many books, and through social media, podcasts, and documentaries.
Asked what being adopted means to him, John writes, “It’s a fun experience. Family is a great thing to have.”
